First of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Such Charming Liars. I am a Karen M. McManus fan, even when I'm able to guess some of the twists and turns her books may take, so I was excited for this one!

My excitement was not misplaced. Granted, I went into Such Charming Liars without re-reading the synopsis, so I was a little blind. I went from thinking this would be a pretty straightforward "thief with a heart of gold" story about a family completing a heist to thinking it was a story about getting out of "the life." Then I realized we were in a murder mystery, and the turns kept coming. There were a couple of points that I guessed, but the points I was surprised by more than made up for them.

This is a definite addition to my high school library, and I think it will almost certainly become a book club pick as well.

I love this author so much! Can you figure out the lies? Will Kat and Liam be in the middle of all this? This book kept me on my toes. I loved it so much! These lies with catch up with them. You will enjoy this book!

I have an ARC of this book but my opinion is my own.

First this isn't my usual genre and I've never actually read a McManus book until last year, and didn't get to finish it as I was reading someone else's copy while on vacation. This made me think of that and realize I need to finish it because I very much enjoy her writing.

First of all, her characters are great. They're not perfect, they mess up, but they're not annoying train wrecks either. Also while I'm usually not a huge fan of flipping the narrators, in this case it worked because they're very different voices and you wanted to see what was going on with both characters.

Second, I was impressed that for YA, it wasn't a case of no good adults in the room. It was a welcome change.

Finally, I can't believe that ending. Talk about a shocker! I found it believable and fun.

While this is the first Karen McManus book I've read, it won't be the last. She's definitely an author who crosses the YA divide. This was a clean book, nothing beyond kissing, but great for any age to read.

I didn’t live this as much as McManus’s other books. The mystery was interesting but with a large cast of family members it got a bit confusing. I also didn’t connect with the characters.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

In typical Karen McManus fashion, she blew me away with the storyline and character development. Kat and Liam, dragged along on their parents' ill-advised schemes, along with a friend, Augustus, are swept up into a heist that even the most storied Chicago gangster couldn't dream up.

The intrigue and convoluted nature of the storyline kept me guessing until the very end.

I liked the characters and parts of the plot. I felt having the mother be “unconscious” for almost everything felt a bit fake and there were just a few too many twists to be plausible.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Receiving an advanced copy was a delightful surprise. I believe both existing fans and newcomers will find it equally enjoyable.

Such Charming liars is a thrilling read! Kat, Liam, and Augustus are very likable as well. The story was fast paced with so many twists that I had to keep reading to find out what happened next. This book will become a favorite among Karen Mcmanus fans. Thank you Netgalley and Random House for the e-galley.

Such Charming Liars
Written By Karen M McManus
Published By Random House Children’s
Release Date July 30, 2024


This is, in my opinion, one of the best YA thriller writers out there. I truly enjoy her writing skills as well as how well she develops the characters she writes about. This book will keep you engaged although it does take a few chapters before it picks up. However, I must say that this was not my favorite nor do I think it was one of McManus’s best. This has all of the hallmarks of a great mystery that will keep the reader guessing but you may be guessing too much.

Jaime and Kat have been all each other have had for quite some time. That is until Jaime was married for a very short time and she would then have a step brother, Liam. Jaime is now a defunct jewel thief and needs to finish one final job. A job that might cause more grief and disaster than anyone could think. Billionaire Ross Sutherlands birthday party will have some very nice bling, ripe for the taking…..but should she take it?
There are a couple of other surprises as well at the party. Liam and his father. Something terrible is about to happen and it puts Kat and Liam in the sights of a killer. Can they escape alive and unscathed?



4 stars

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

In relation to McManus' other titles, to me, this one wasn't as thriller-y. It had all the parts to be, but I'm not sure Kat's character resonated with me. I did like Kat and Liam's relationship and the twist at the end, though.

This book was secretive, captivating and a nail biter from the start.

I couldnt get enough the mother daughter duo of it all was perfect, kat and jamie lived a very hard life and it didnt get easier they had to live a life of thievery with Gem in there secret fake gem business. They just had to do one more job and they would be completely out with a fresh start……or would they?🤔



The plot:
So good i could imagine the small town that the richest family ever has bought so easily and anything that occurred was super easy to understand but also so secretive you could not put it down till you knew what happened next.

The characters:
Liam was so charming and quirky, he has the best moral and he was the one making the best decisions out of them all, his father a con artist did not make him one too

Kat, she had the best but also the most complicated character development, she wanted to be like her mom and gem her mom’s employer so bad that she couldnt see how bad it could be for her and that a normal life would he good for her. She was definitely by favorite with her spontaneous and very forward statements 😎

Augustus, was a fun flirty rich kid, that loved his family but would put them in there place when they were severely wrong, you’ll have to read and see who he falls in love with kat or liam 😉


The ending: it was to dieee for!! I only called one thing occurring but the rest i was completely blinded sided, these 3 misfits will have to come together to solve the greatest heist and murder without being looked at by the police.


I truly enjoyed this book i love all books by this author they never miss

Such a fun book from the amazing Karen McManus. I loved the characters Liam & Augustus. Liam is such a wholesome person & Augustus is effortlessly funny. Parts of the story I was able to guess, but overall I didn’t come anywhere close to predicting the ending. In fact it went the complete opposite direction of where I thought it was going. I’ll admit that this wasn’t my favorite book of hers, but in no way does that mean it’s a bad book. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, but I do wish we could’ve gotten some more history & depth from some of the characters. The Sutherland family seems entertaining & complex enough to have their own book if we got more insight into their lives. There’s so many different family dynamics going on & I really liked seeing the story of Kat & Liam unfold. I’d definitely recommend this one.

So because the book has not been released yet, I am going to keep this very general. My daughter and I are HUGE fans of Karen. That being said, this was not my favorite of hers.
So the idea behind the book was good. A mother and daughter duo doing one last jewelry heist so to speak.

But there was a lot of other things going on that really didn't seem to add much to the story but rather distract. I wondered the point on some of the characters and the ending was a little messy

that is not to say I think its a bad book. It just didn't do it for me as much as her other books have

Such Charming Liars is a fun thriller and the con artist/jewel heist part of it made it feel different. This will be a popular title for fans of her other books already and an easy book to introduce her writing to new readers.

Another great mystery by Karen McManus! So many twists and turns. This is definitely more plot driven than character driven. There were so many characters, it was hard to really get to know them deeply. I enjoyed the story nonetheless, and I think teens will too.

Great YA (don’t let THAT hold you back) novel about jewel heists, counterfeitters, Las Vegas marriage, and some ingenious teens. Throw in a little romance and you’ve got the perfect novel. More twists and turns than an amusement park ride, you must read this latest by Karen McManus. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review.

The book was not engaging and did not pick up into almost half way through the book. It is marketed as a murder mystery but the crime does not take play until about a 100 pages into the book. I have liked other books by this author but this one did not grab my attention. I would not suggest it and I would say that if you want a fast paced book, this is not the one for you.

No surprise that McManus smashes it out of the park again. This fun and fast paced thriller has all the twists and turns I expected, and it kept me totally enthralled the whole time. The characters were really lovable and the storyline was exciting! Thank you to the publisher for the ARC!

Another fun read from Karen McManus. In this novel, we meet Jamie and Kat, a mother and daughter who have been living in a world of crime. Jamie wants to go straight, but she agrees to one last job, a heist at a billionaire's birthday party. Kat tags along and the pair run into a couple of significant people from their past: Jamie's ex-husband Luke and his son Liam. Luke and Liam are also in attendance at this party and their presence threatens the job.
When a party-goer is murdered, Kat and Liam set out on a mission to discover the murderer without becoming targets themselves.
Kat and Liam spent a tumultuous 48 hours together as children when their parents were briefly married. Due to the extreme circumstances, they both feel connected even though they haven't seen each other in years. The reconnection of these "siblings" and the growth of their relationship is the backbone of this mystery.
McManus fans will enjoy this new novel. It's also a fun introduction to the world of McManus mysteries.

I really did enjoy this read. This author is a go to for me and I really enjoyed her other books and this was no different. For me, it was a solid 3 stars and that’s a good rating. It means I was entertained and would likely recommend to others.